Diablo II: Lord of Destruction

"This game is NOT pointless!"

I can recollect the first time I ever heard about Diablo, it was when the first game came out. I heard my friends talking about it almost all the time, but I still wasn't quite interesting in buying it for some reason. Then one day I went to visit my uncle and he had it for the PC, so I figured I might as well try it out since it was there. After I played it a couple times, it was pretty interesting but it was when I saw it at Wal-Mart for $10.00 that I actually decided to buy it...

Then Diablo 2 came out and then I heard more and more about everything Diablo-related from basically every person at school that had a thing for PC games at least. Still...I was not so excited that I just had to buy the game as soon as possible. One day I went over to my friend's house and he had Diablo 2, so like I did with the first game I decided to give it a go. Now not only did I totally ignore the first game (and eventually traded it for something else) but as soon as it was possible I borrowed it from him. It still sits in my cd-drive today...:D

Now with that little story, let me move on to the game itself. Diablo 2 is a game that has everything any video game should have: Great graphics, stunning storyline, challenging gameplay, awesome control, atmospheric sound and music, and some really really REALLY good replayability...

Storyline 10/10 - Basically the story goes like so: In the Diablo's first task was that he wanted to complete was to corrupt the Soulstone that imprisoned him. Soon he became so powerful that he would be able to influence those outside of the Soulstone. Diablo took possession of a prince, then began to create an outpost of Hell inside the catacombs that were beneath the town of Tristam. By doing so, many who heard of his evil would come to cleanse that same evil and perhaps battle with Diablo himself. One hero in particular battled with Diablo and it seemed he won. But when he killed Diablo, he had already been influenced by the demon's will. The hero felt that the only option was too stick the shard of the Soulstone into his head, but this was all part of Diablo's plan. Now Diablo had a stronger body to use to be able to complete that plan.

Diablo now has another task, to free his demon brothers Baal, Duriel, and Mephiesto. The hero now has become so possessed that his appearance shows it. Because of this, the sickened hero brought with him a mortal companion to go into the city to listen for information and whatever the people said Diablo still needed to do in order to fulfill his plan.

After Diablo and his two other brothers, Duriel and Mephiesto had eventually been defeated, there still remained only one, and that is Baal. Baal is intent on corrupting the Worldstone, a stone that protects all mortals from the forces of Hell. Baal must be defeated or it will literally be Hell on Earth.

Graphics 10/10 - You must have at least a pretty good computer to fully appreciate the quality display that Diablo 2 can give you. In LOD a 800 by 600 resolution has been added, so that now the lighting is much better, and shadows that are reflected by that same lighting look more realistic. No environment looks the same as the one before or after it, and each one is fitting to the plagues of monsters and bosses you will face throughout. The monsters look just as realistic as the warrior you're playing as. Whether they spit acid or shoot lighting, there is no blending inside the environment so much so that it's hard to decide what to do next about the situation at hand.

Gameplay 10/10 - The gameplay in D2 is superb, first off you have 7 classes to choose from: Amazon, Necromancer, Barbarian, Paladin, Sorceress, and the two classes exclusive to LOD, Druid and Assassin. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses, and they all balance out in the end. When you play in multiplayer, which is where the meat of D2 actually is, playing the game with others is just so much more fun. You can team up against hordes of monsters and bosses. There are three difficulties for the game: Normal, Nightmare, and Hell. When you go from Normal to Nightmare for example, your resistances will go from positive to negative. That makes the game even more challenging, and the same will happen when you go from Nightmare to Hell. You have to build up higher and higher with each difficulty, but you must beat each one to go to the next. What's the point of this you ask? The higher the difficulty the better the items, and you want the best items you can get. Monsters and bosses get harder with each difficulty, and if you are on Normal difficulty for example, the more people that join your game, the harder it will be to kill the monsters and bosses. There are also unique-monsters throughout the game, they will be surrounded by minions. Minions are regular monsters but they are just a tad bit harder considering they are of ''minion'' status. The uniques can be real pains, and they will make your quest much harder than you think it has to be. But you want to find these unique monsters, because most of them carry some really great items. These items will help when you are getting ready to fight a boss, and you will be glad you fought those uniques because the bosses in this game are ruthless.

Sound and Music 10/10 - Whether you slash at a monster or shoot an arrow at it and it screams or whatever, every sound is crisp and clear. When you talk to the townsfolk, or when you hear a boss say something intimidating, it all sounds sincere and none of it sounds forced at all. The music really adds to the mood of this game, and each environment has its own orchestrated tune.

Replayability 10/10 - Actually the replayability you find in this game is not the kind of replayability you will find in most games. Why? Because quite frankly the replayability in this game is infinite when it comes the multiplayer. There is so so many items to find that its not even funny, and you can even duel with other players to get THEIR items. When it comes to single-player, it's just like Diablo 1, it gets old after awhile. But multiplayer has a redeeming quality to it, and its what makes Diablo 2 so addicting.

Flaws? Well...the only things I can think of is that sometimes if you are in the middle of a huge battle in multiplayer, the game has a tendency to run very choppy sometimes. This is all the bots' fault, has nothing to do with the game itself actually. But it gets very annoying and if you find the game start to run choppy, end it as soon as possible, especially if you are fighting with a difficult unique or boss. Umm...let's see...well cheaters are still on the loose but never fear, Blizzard is here. In fact Blizzard will permanently ban anyone that uses any kind of hack. Unfortunately this includes maphack, which really is not dangerous but most people were so paranoid about it...sheesh. The 1.10 patch has come out so most bugs have been fixed, which is very cool.

If you ask me if you should buy Diablo 2: LOD, yes. This game is better than the first game and the original D2 combined. If you have the original D2 and you don't own the expansion, buy it. It's worth it. The expansion is just that. It has two new warrior classes, you can now outfit your hirelings with weapons of your choosing, there is a new screen resolution, the stashes are bigger, you can now pick up runes and such, etc. etc. Buy Diablo 2: LOD, it will last you a lifetime.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/06/04